‘This is nonsense’: LuLaRoe CEO fires back at $49 million supplier lawsuit, saying he has no plans to ’jump ship’

LuLaRoe CEO Mark Stidham has fired back at a supplier’s $49 million lawsuit against the multilevel marketing company, saying some of the suit’s supporting testimonies are “patently false” and “nonsense.”

The supplier, Providence Industries, claimed in the suit that Stidham was a flight risk, with one person accusing him of threatening to “jump ship” with the company’s riches.

Stidham said he had no plans to abscond with the company’s money.

“To be clear, I do not have, and have never had, any intention or plans of absconding abroad with money,” he said.

Another hearing on the matter is scheduled for Friday morning.

LuLaRoe CEO Mark Stidham has fired back at a supplier’s $49 million lawsuit against the multilevel marketing company, saying some of the suit’s supporting testimonies are “patently false” and “nonsense.”

The supplier, Providence Industries, said in the suit that LuLaRoe had failed to pay its bills for seven months and accused the company’s founders, Mark and DeAnne Stidham, of hiding assets in “shell” companies to fund their “lavish lifestyle.”

During a hearing in California state court on Wednesday, Providence Industries demanded the immediate seizure of nearly $34 million in assets from LuLaRoe, claiming that Mark Stidham was a flight risk while citing an accusation he had threatened to “jump ship” with the company’s riches.

Executives from Providence Industries and LuLaRoe’s former chief designer, Patrick Winget, filed sworn statements in support of some of the lawsuit’s claims.

In response, Stidham said he had no plans to flee with the company’s money, according to a copy of Stidham’s testimony that was filed in court on Wednesday.

“To be clear, I do not have, and have never had, any intention or plans of absconding abroad with money,” he said. “To the contrary, I remain committed to the LuLaRoe business and continue to work daily on the business.”

Stidham went on to identify four LuLaRoe properties, including three warehouses and a commercial office space, and said the company was current on its rents for all of those properties.

“The suggestion that I would abscond with hundreds of millions of dollars from LuLaRoe and escape to the Bahamas – or anywhere else for that matter – is absurd,” he said, and “testimony to that effect is reckless, misleading, and insulting.”